Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The violin and frame in this peice are actually gifts from friends who knew I would find a creative us for them. I do like the white violin on the the blue and black canvas. The deep thalo/ ultramarine blue reflects onto the vilolin in an interesting way. I was thinking in terms of a Dada like interpretation where the object is what it is, but it no longer fullfills it's previous function. I was also thinking in terms of the cool sounds violins produce.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

I finally have a new photograph of the mural I painted for the Fire Dpt.. The installation was held 2000 at the old Fire Department building in Algonquin. The community has grown tremedously in since the installaion so the Fire Dpt. built a huge state of the art building. The mural was moved to the new space within the huge atrium entrance in 2005. This mural was my first large format painting and the most complex. The mural represents the history of the Algonquin/ LITH Fire Dept. from about 1935 until 2000. I worked with over 75 photographs that depicted the history of the Dpt. I developed a timeline with various images. There have been some significant changes during the Dpt.'s history. During the time I was painting the mural the Rescue/Ambulance service were added. You will find this on right section of the composition. The first full-time woman fire fighter is also included in the Dpt. just before I completed the mural, and you will find her on the right panel.

I enjoy working with complex images and building compositons that provide a narrative. There is a tremedous amount of processing involved when working without projectors or computers while developing the final design. I find it very rewarding to bring life to a painting and enrich the world with my artwork.

About Me

Greetings and welcome. I want to share with you my lifelong passion for art, art education, art history and most of all painting. Visitors entering my studio will find paintings and mixed media works in various stages of progress. I am always thinking and writing about my work with a strong emphasis on connecting ideas and experiences of everyday life. My work is continuously nourished through interests and activly engaging in the world through exploring history, literature, music, worldwide travels, and the vastness of human creativity throughout time.
I hold a Bachelors of Art in Art Education from University of Florida and a Masters of Art in Art Education from University of Illinois and have continued my education throughout my life. As a professional artist and teacher, the best of both worlds come together in my art and my teaching.

"Portraits of American Veterans Project" 2011

The "Portraits of American Veterans Project" has exhibited regionally and nationally. This is the stunning Sage Gallery locate in the Lakeside Legacy Arts Park in Crystal Lake. The portraits require a large galllery and the Sage is perfect for showing each painting and each Veteran's story at their best. The "Portraits of American Veterans Project" has also exhibited at Northern Trust Bank in Chicago, GE Diversity Fine Art Gallery in Fairfield Conn. and other venues in the Chicago area.